More
Matrix Masters
Blogs
World Events
US News
Science & Health
Earth News
Free Speech
News from Africa
News from Palestine
Bill of Rights Under Attack

Matrix Masters'
SUPPORTERS

Lorenzo's
Random Musings
. . . about Chaos,
Reason, and Hope

 

Chavez hosts World Social Forum as leftist movements unite against Bush
(Khaleej Times Online, January 23, 2006)
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is hosting one of the world's largest anti-globalization, anti-war events starting Tuesday - and the timing couldn't be better. . . . Leftist leaders are increasingly popular across Latin America, while Chavez's own "revolution" for the poor has become an inspiration for like-minded activists everywhere from Canada to Chile. . . . Organizers predict as many as 100,000 people will attend the World Social Forum this week in Caracas, including campaigners against US-style free trade, environmentalists, Indian leaders and human rights activists. . . . Their views span a wide spectrum, but most participants appear united by strong opposition to the US government and the war in Iraq. The forum will begin with an "anti-imperialist" march Tuesday through the streets of Caracas, with protesters likely to aim their chants against US President George W. Bush. . . . "Venezuela has become an epicenter of change on the world level," Chavez said Friday, mentioning the event in a speech. "That’s why (US) imperialism wants to sweep us away, of course ... because they say we are a bad example, but they haven't swept us away and they won't." . . . The World Social Forum was first held in Brazil in 2001 and coincides each year with the market-friendly World Economic Forum of national leaders in Davos, Switzerland. . . . "The US government, especially under the Bush administration, has been trying to force its own economic polices on developing countries, and I think all of us here agree that must stop," said Jeff Monahan, a 32-year-old organic farmer from Battle Creek, Michigan. . . . Some 2,000 events - including seminars, speeches, concerts and craft fairs - will be held across Caracas during this week's forum. . . . More than 50,000 participants had signed up as of Sunday, organizers said. But an estimated 100,000 in all were expected for the six-day event, said Carlos Torres, a Montreal-based Chilean organizer. About half the attendees were expected to come from outside Venezuela. . . . "The world is changing, and I think leaders like Chavez can provide interesting examples of what can be done to ensure it changes for the better," said Moritz Lange, 24, who came from Bremen, Germany, to help to organize the forum. . . . The recent rise of left-leaning governments in Bolivia, Argentina, Uruguay and Chile makes the event a timely forum to exchange ideas, said Miguel Tinker Salas, a Latin American studies professor at Pomona College in Claremont, California. . . . "It's an opportune moment, given what's happening in Latin America and the fact that it brings together these various political forces on the left," Tinker Salas said in a telephone interview from California.

posted by Lorenzo 2:40 PM